Melukote

If you want to quietly wander around a small village, feeling every bit of divinity it is soaked in, observing the strictly divine practices of the highly orthodox inhabitants, and experiencing the magical vibrations of the powerful temples, then Melukote is probably the only such place in the country. The village is spread over a small rocky area at the foothills of a hill and as a tourist to this village you would get a strange feeling that though the people and the time have moved on, the village is caught in a time warp, stuck in its glorious past and is almost as if it does not want to let go that past. The place also has a ghastly past wherein an Islamic king murdered a large number of residents of the village on the auspicious day of Deepavali. Many families in the village even today do not celebrate Deepavali, the most celebrated festival of India. The village with its narrow lanes and by-lanes is reminiscent of the Agraharas (villages with no tax and where scholars lived) of times gone by. Are you a spiritual traveller or the one in search of divinity or in search of history or in search of GOD, you may just find it all in Melukote. It is a powerful place. Barring the peak summer months of April and May, it is conducive to visit Melukote during other months. Melukote is approximately 40 kilometres away from Mandya, the district headquarters. Mandya is also the nearest railway station. Mysore domestic airport is at about 68 kilometres away and Bengaluru International airport is approximately 170 kilometres away.

Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple
This is the second important temple in Melukote. This temple has a large number of devotees and many kings in the past have handsomely donated land and other grants to the temple. On the right side of the sanctum is a small temple of a Goddess. In front of this temple, many columns with highly ornate designs are seen.

Raya Gopura
It is another attractive structure in Melukote. Located a little distance away from the Cheluvanarayana swamy temple, it is a unique structure that is either half built or has collapsed leaving behind only what is left.